Fox Searchlight is a studio known for releasing off-kilter, subversive features for adult audiences. Their most recent entry — and Searchlight’s widest release ever — is yet another solid entry in their catalogue.

Despite a slow start, “Ready or Not,” directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, works largely in part of its light-hearted tone and its increasingly ridiculous sequence of events that improves with each scene. It’s an incredibly entertaining film that Disney should make under the Fox namesake.

In order to officially join her new, insanely-rich in-laws, Grace (Samara Weaving) must play a randomly selected game with her new husband’s (Mark O’Brien) family. However, Grace happens to select hide-and-seek, which requires the Le Domas family to find and kill Grace before sunrise on the night after her wedding night.

The two most obvious faults of “Ready or Not” are the character’s exposition dumps and the overuse of hand-held cameras. Early in the film, characters will seemingly stop to say their backstory out of nowhere. The backstories themselves are fine, but the manner that the characters share them feels forced and out of place.

As for the camera usage, many of the early scenes are handheld, but much too shaky, with several moments where the camera is shaking so much that it is hard to make out what’s going on in the film. The usage of the camera becomes much steadier as the film goes on, allowing for an easier viewing experience. Other production elements like the design of the Le Domas home and the lighting are all fantastic, and the design of the games owned by the family are superb.

Karleigh Merritt-Henry | Digital Design Editor

“Ready or Not” works largely in part of its great sense of humor. Much of this comes from Grace’s hilarious in-laws, including Emilie’s (Melanie Scrofano) inability to kill, Fitch’s (Kristian Bruun) difficulty using a crossbow and Aunt Helene’s (Nicky Guadagni) constantly frightening appearance. Humor also comes from Weaving’s performance as Grace.

Early in the film, she has some forced lines to read, but once she gets to dive into her horrific situation, her swearing and exasperated reactions provide fantastic tension and comedy. Adam Brody also shines as a brother who is reluctant to killing Grace, but is also too afraid of losing his family. Along with the language, the film makes use of its R-rating for solid gore and language, adding to the film.

Additionally, the film still has some heart. At the center of “Ready or Not” is a twisted, elitist family that Grace’s fiancé, Alex, wants to get away from. There’s commentary on the depths that the wealthy will go to keep their status.

The movie also questions the merits of a family unit. Should you believe everything your family says, after all, they do know you best? Can you break off from your family, or are you tied to them? These questions are hilariously answered in a climax that I will not dare to spoil.

Now, “Ready or Not” is not something that fits into Disney’s normally safe, family-friendly archetype. However, it is exactly the type of film that should be released under the Fox brand. It is a film that has something to say about the current state of elites in our nation and family dynamics as a whole. Most importantly, “Ready or Not” is an original property made by creative filmmakers.

Disney may be able to sell remake after remake of older properties, but that will create a stale film environment that will dry up unless it is rejuvenated with creative films like this. “Ready or Not” is an enjoyable rush that deserves to be supported so that more unique creators get their chance to play with audiences.

@patgunner_ | pagunn@syr.edu

Published on August 26, 2019 at 10:51 pm

Contact Patrick: pagunn@syr.edu